DIY Furnace Troubleshooting

Posted March 6, 2015

Sustaining complete home comfort during the cooler months is one of the greatest concerns for a lot of people. Sure, you’d like that to extend year-round, but when winter gets its coldest, it feels a tad more essential. The scenario typically unfolds like this: your local Bishop weatherperson is predicting the coldest day of the year and your furnace decides to start acting up. Now there’s no need to panic and call a furnace technician quite yet. There are a few things you can check on your own before getting ahold of them.

Ensure your thermostat is set to “heat” – sure, it sounds obvious, but it’s easy to forget to set your thermostat to the correct position. Whether it’s an inadvertent change while cleaning or you had an unexpected rise in temperatures for a few days and didn’t need your thermostat, double check your thermostat’s setting.

Check your filter – one of the most common causes of furnaces turning off suddenly is a dirty filter. When furnace filters get excessively dirty, air cannot pass through them as easily. The furnace might detect this and will shut off the system. If you have an older furnace, it may not recognize the problem and cause an even bigger problem. Newer furnaces have been crafted to pick up on this issue and have a better chance shutting the system down before it causes any further issues. Getting in the habit of changing your furnace filter every month can ensure you don’t wake up to a frigid house.

Weak or dead batteries – if your thermostat operates with batteries, check it to ensure there isn’t a flashing low battery signal or another indicator that it’s time to replace your batteries. Other thermostats run off of your home’s electrical system and don’t have to worry about this.

Check your switches – find your home’s circuit breaker panel and find the breaker that controls your furnace. You should be able to recognize if it is in the middle position or the Off position. If it is, cycle the breaker to Off and then re-set it back to the On position. If at any point you feel uncomfortable with the circuit breaker panel, please consult your local Bishop dealer or an electrician.

The other switch to check looks just like a light switch, which could be the issue. It’s your furnace switch and should be in the Up, or On, position. Because of its resemblance to a light switch, it can be easily mistaken for one. Once On, give the furnace a few minutes to start up as many systems operate with built-in delays.

Following these few steps before contacting your local Bishop technician can help you eliminate the easy things, and if there is still an issue, it allows you to pass on pertinent information to the technician if they end up coming out. Troubleshooting your furnace doesn’t have to be hard, but ensuring you stay within your comfort zone is necessary too. There’s no need to take any risks and potentially do more damage to your furnace, so once you start feeling a little out of your element, give your local furnace technician at Bishop Heating & Air Conditioning in Bishop a call.

Bishop Heating & Air Conditioning offers dependable, quality service to homeowners in the Bishop community. Our experienced technicians are well-trained and knowledgeable on all HVAC products, so you’ll be confident knowing you can trust us. The team at Bishop Heating & Air Conditioning adheres to high standards and are devoted to offering the best customer service, whether you’re searching for a new HVAC system or need maintenance on your current system. If you have questions or need support for your HVAC system, you can reach us at 760-784-9034 or schedule an appointment online to get started on your home comfort needs!